Rudolph Cupcakes

Watch my granddaughter Elora demonstrate how to make these.
At the end she looks like she is going to fly away.

Can you name the Corporate Logo?

I know I'm not a visual person, and I guess this proves it.
I only got 14 out of 36.

I know also, that no one has time to play this game today, but take a break, and let me know what your score is. I really want to know if I'm so far off.

Click right here. Be brave.

BYU vs Fresno State

So my brother Richard who lives in Alpine, Utah,
says he has 4 good tickets for Dennis
to attend the BYU/Fresno State game
playing here last Saturday night.

Den loves all the BYU games
but he especially wanted to see this one.

Shortly after Den arrives at the game, he sends me this text:

"Right behind bench"

He got seats behind the bench??! So I quickly turned on the TV. I did see him a few times and his 3 friends he took with him. Well not Den's face, but I would recognize that body, and his shirt anywhere.

He even took a picture on his phone
to show me where he was sitting, and sent it to me by email.
He later told me that when he got his ticket, they just kept walking lower and lower, and could hardly believe they got to sit behind the players.

He came home so pumped. So what does he do? He watched it on TV all over again. And even more shocking than that, I watched it with him.

I'm so happy for him. He rarely does something for himself. Besides, he needed a break from this:He's got lots more to wrap this week.

When Richard left at 5:30 this morning, Den and I were still in La La Land, so we didn't get to say goodbye. We always enjoy his visits, even the very short ones.

Christmas video

I found this on a blog I follow. She said this was made by a friend of hers. That's all I know. But is so worth watching.

Follow it through. Love how this evolves.

Romantic evening with the twins

Tonight marked 11 years from our first date.
And to think it all started when I received this message in my inbox:I did a post in 2008 about this, so go here to read it if you want.

So imagine how romantic it was last night when we had the twins for the evening. They arrived sound asleep but as soon as Amy and Logan left they both woke up, took one look at Den and I, and then cried. Nothing would stop the crying. I think they are at the peek of stranger anxiety. We aren't strangers but they know we aren't their parents either.

So what did we do?

We loaded them up, still crying, into our car and drove around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights and decorations. The babies were too low in the car to see anything but they were quiet and happy. The old car trick still works after all these years.

I turned on our song...cranked it up high and thought to myself how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful man. How happy we have been these past 11 years. How when we met 11 years ago last night, Den had 2 grandchildren. Now we have 17 between us!

Before we left the house we found 2 old umbrella strollers in the garage and threw them in the trunk. With that we decided to check out the ward Christmas party. The babies loved it.

Little Duncan Walker was doing his best to entertain Téa.
She was totally intrigued by him as you can see.

How can they look so comfortable with Santa?
The big man in the red suit that most babies are afraid of!!

What kind of Santa would give an 8 month old baby a candy cane?
Maybe one who has a day job with the FBI.
Téa was more interested in her candy cane and Jonas was fascinated by Santa's beard
Where was their fear?
After all, they are going through this separation anxiety phase right now. And they cry at their grandparents' house!



Our song? Here it is.
I keep it in our car at all times. And whenever I put it on, Dennis sings it to me. Really. He's that sweet.

Duggars' 19th baby

Duggar Baby No. 19 Arrives

Michelle Duggar, star of the TLC show "18 Kids and Counting," gave birth to her 19th child Thursday, according to a statement from TLC, which airs the program.

Josie Brooklyn arrived three months prematurely and weighed only 1 pound, 6 ounces. She was due March 18, according to the Duggar Family Web site.

Slideshow: The Duggar Family

Duggar, 42, was hospitalized last weekend for gallstones, and she was given an emergency Caesarean section Thursday evening.

"Michelle is resting comfortably, and baby is stable and in the NICU for extended care," read a statement on TLC's Web site. "The most important thing right now is for Mom and baby Josie to get as much rest as possible. The family is grateful for all the prayers and well wishes during their recovery."

Dr. Manny Alvarez, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, told FoxNews.com that a baby of Josie's size could face many challenges.

"Some of these challenges could include cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness, chronic respiratory problems, chronic gastrointestinal problems and bleeding in the brain," said Alvarez, who is also managing health editor of FoxNews.com. "Everything really depends on the first 30 days of life."

Alvarez said Josie would most likely stay in the neonatal intensive-care unit for up to four months.

Babies typically can leave the NICU when they are able to breathe without support, maintain a stable body temperature, breast or bottle-feed and gain weight steadily.

Duggar, and her husband, Jim Bob, now have 19 kids whose names all begin with the letter "J."

The Duggars' eldest son, Josh, and his wife, Anna, recently gave birth to a baby girl too.

Do you remember My Three Sons?

Growing up, watching My Three Sons was a weekly Saturday night tradition. My Mom loved it as much as we did.

(btw, When my 3rd son McKay was born, instead of my doctor saying, "It's a boy!" he said, "My Three Sons!!")

I just found out this reunion was on a morning show last month. I had no idea. I hope you enjoy this clip as much as I did.

I guess you have to be sort of old to appreciate this. I'm not sure my sons even know what this show is.

Watch for the little flashback clips.





It ran from 1960-1972. So I was in kindergarten when it began and in 12th grade when it completed. No wonder I remember it...that was my childhood.

So please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers this show...

Fabric Knot-Bead Necklaces

Kim, one of Den's daughters, was on TV again!

Looks like Studio 5 (KSL) in Utah just can't get enough of her. This time she teaches us how to make fabric knot-bead necklaces.

They look like they could be a good Young Women activity or even for the achievement girls. (Mormon talk for teenage girls, and girls ages 8-12)

Take a look.

You can go to her website HERE for step by step instructions in pictures. She also has another video there showing how to make Glass Block Photo Keepsakes that are really pretty.

Pearl Harbor and my Mom

Tomorrow my Mom would have been 80 years old. Here she is, 1940, with her brothers walking down Fulton Street (before it became a mall) in Fresno. About a year after this picture was taken, during her 12th birthday party, Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Here's a little excerpt about that period of time from one of her scrap books:

You may need to click these to make them larger to read.

And a few more glimpses of her childhood that I just recently found:


The 2 pictures below were taken on Valentine's day 1938.
Mom is the little blonde on the front row to the left.


This one taken on Temperence Avenue in Fresno in 1938 or 1939, with her brother Don.


Go here to see a video of her.

The Year My Son and I Were Born

Usually it takes me weeks to finish a book. I can't seem to sit still long enough. This book I read in a matter of days. I could hardly put it down, and on the other hand I wanted it to last longer so I tried to savor it and read it slow.

Kathryn Soper writes honestly, sometimes painfully so, and comes up with the most profound and thought provoking statements.

I probably cried in every chapter. It moved me that much. And parts of it were funny. Such is life.

I found this to be a very spiritual book.

Whatever you do, don't stop in the middle. You need to read the book to the end to see where her journey goes. Otherwise it might feel easy to judge this author.

Lots of thinking about life, and what it's really all about. What really matters. The best book I've read in a long time.

If you would like to borrow my copy you are welcome to it. As soon as Erin is done with it.

Speaking of Erin...look what she did for me last night.
Our tree had been sitting there for 5 days with no decorations, so she and Elora offered to put them on!
Love the way Elora has everyone lined up, including the animals, to see baby Jesus.